The Really Big Rise of the Eldrazi EDH Review

You know how it goes: Wizards prints up a new set and we, as players, take a look at all of the goodness they dropped in our laps and we drink it up. That’s right, we drink their milkshake. What flavors did they leave for us this time? Let’s see what we’ve got.

Yes, EDH is the format where we take what the Pros deem as “Slow” and “Win More” and turn it into our gold. Sure, we might have some of the same spells that our formats jointly like, but we don’t care if something is 7 mana, we still play it anyway.

As you know, for the first time ever there has been true colorless spells printed. Any of these colorless spells can be put in any EDH deck and for the first time Karn (and the new Eldrazi Generals) can finally play an instant spell. Not only will those cards be good for those decks, but really, almost any EDH deck. What does all of this mean? One of the best EDH sets ever; certainly one of the top two I’ve ever reviewed for this blog.

Please remember, almost any card in the set can be used for EDH; these are the ones that I feel will impact your playgroups and decks the most. As always, you’ll get my Top 10 of the set at the end. I didn’t really focus on some of the tribalish cards such as the Merfolk and Elf Levelers because if you’re playing those decks, you’re going to put them in there anyway; they’re no good to you in Goblin decks.

Lucky for you guys I went and made every new ROE card linked to a new tab/window; click away with joy now.

Yes, this means that mono-Green and mono-Blue decks now have a way of resetting the game. This is a game changer. Seven mana in EDH happens almost every game and suddenly that Elf deck that you had no reason to fear can wipe the board. But why is it so good? It causes players to sacrifice. Bye bye shroud or indestructible creatures. Lands are colorless, so keep that in mind because you don’t sacrifice them (and good thing Painter’s Servant was banned or this might really be hated). Tips: Ancient Kavu, Ersatz Gnomes, Ghostflame Sliver, Moonlace (Yes Moonlace), Mycosynth Lattice, Raging Spirit, and Thran Lens should see a little more play now.

Colorless reanimation creature. ‘Course, it only happens when you cast him (so no “enters the battlefield” tricks) but if he gets countered, the ability still happens (Hello Dovescape! – Thanks Kelly!). And because it’s worded as cast, Clone and other spellshaper type creatures and abilities don’t trigger. Still, a 10/9 annihilator 2 for 9 mana isn’t all that bad.

While a 12 mana 11/11 might seem like a win more card, this could easily turn the tables in a large multiplayer game. Its ability is a bit different from Prince of Thralls because the Prince doesn’t care how it got to the graveyard while It does. The big difference is both the mana cost (colorless to UBR) and the non-negotiable ability to take it. So while some people’s brains might be thinking of putting him in a black deck, think of the word: Sacrifice. You sacrifice fetchlands. You sacrifice things when you can’t pay the cumulative upkeep on it. People sacrifice to All is Dust. There is so much you can do with this card it’s not funny. Open the box and explore out of it. It That Betrays can been seen as a win more card in duels, but don’t let that fool you for multiplayer. This is the card that you fear coming out of Savra, Queen of the Golgari EDH decks. Rules are now saying if people sacrifice their General while this is in play, you get to have that General, it doesn’t go to the Command Zone.

Free counterspell that counters a spell or ability that targets a fatty. Green has a counterspell for it’s big guys, so does Red for it’s dragons, and White and Black. Remember that it can also counter an ability as well, so Sower of Temptation might not get anything when that Blue mage casts it. This will see more play in playgroups where stealing creatures is popular (Hi Sheldon).

It’s the 20 mana ability that I think is worth noticing (yea, for 4 mana you can pump out 0/1 mana guys. Fun, but not really exciting). While some groups will let you go get your collection for the Wishes and such, just know what you can and can’t grab before you play this guy. Remember: Changelings are Eldrazi too.

Note: The common and uncommon Eldrazi that just have Annihilator X, are fine and if there wasn’t a whole cycle of guys that did that, I’d talk about them. But, they’re just after thoughts when it comes to this set. Still very usable.

Remember that making something indestructible doesn’t mean it’s immune from sacrifice (All is Dust, everything else). However, it does say target creature, not target creature you control which means this can be another one of those political cards. With enough mana you can Wrath away the table and keep your whole army including your General. Oh, the 5/7 for 6 is still really good against a ton of fliers, which is good.

Alright, My Totem Armor thoughts: yes, it’s a great ability and will see play in EDH. The better ones are the ones I’ll talk about here in this review. While you might be scratching your head why I would be including a +0/+4 on here, it does fit in a deck. Turn 1 Birds of Paradise. Turn 2, play your General, Doran. Turn 3, play this and swing for 9 General Damage. That’s all.

Most of the time, Planeswalkers are good for EDH, yet I really don’t see many times where you’d want to activate his Ultimate ability. There’s too many tricks that can screw him over and too many other players to focus his first ability on. However, his Vengeance ability will make people stop to think about wanting to attack you.

And is this my spot to talk about Levelers? Alright. They have to do something really good than just get bigger. Because there are bigger things in EDH, a second turn 3/3 First Striker isn’t all that impressive. However, one that makes your other creatures bigger is better in this format. This isn’t the best Leveler in EDH, but it’s a good one for those of you playing token decks or just White swarm.

Yes, a mini-Uril and enchantress all in one. Note: she only draws when you cast aura spells, not just any enchantment. She’ll go in Uril and she may find a home in Zur (but remember: it’s cast not enters the battlefield).

While it’s not a completely new Moat, it will stop an all out attack. There have been talks about pairing this with Gidoen to make all your opponent’s creatures attack, which might be a good plan. Otherwise, this won’t stop a single Inkwell Leviathan from swinging at you. Great against swarm decks but just buys the opponent’s time to get their big creature out.

When mana burn was gotten rid of, this card was able to be printed. While being at 1 when you start out at 40 is a huge downfall, I could see it play. Here’s some of my favorite cards to help you out: Blood Celebrant, Soulgorger Orgg, Worship. Neol deCordova already talked about a ton more here and I don’t want to rehash them. It’s a complete Johnny card that I look forward to playing with.

Token maker. With Rebound. Played it in the Pre-release: holy cow. While you make little 1/1 tokens, you do get to do something with every effect you have of “when a creature enters the battlefield,” so keep that in mind. Yes, Blasting Station is awesome with this (but save it for the rebounded spell so you get more creatures).

Let me go on record by saying this: Oust is a great card. No, it’s not better than Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile, but it is really good in EDH. Why? Because you put your opponent’s General into their library. Yes it will take them a turn or to two to draw them out, but it hits Generals you couldn’t kill but had to get rid of. If they have search effect such as a Fetchland or a tutor, they risk losing thier General, hindering their plays fora few turns. If you’ve never played with spells or abilities that put Generals in their opponent’s libraries in EDH, please do so; it’s really crushing when you do that from a play standpoint to an emotional one as well.

White has a ton of ways to gain life so this should be an easy way to draw 2 cards over 2 turns. It says “an” opponent rather than “each”; very big difference. This isn’t going to be one of those “Oh my, we have to prevent him from playing that” but “Oh, he’s playing it again.” It’s one of those unassuming good spells that people don’t think much about.

Will be another one of those “Oh, him again” cards. While a 6/6 lifelink is troublesome, the fact he has no evasion is the real issue here. He won’t become a real powerhouse in EDH until you shove 12 mana down his throat and suddenly, he’s not a 6/6 lifegaining wall anymore. 9/9 Lifelink indestructible creatures certainly raise eyebrows. Kill him before Level 12.

Seeing play with Kor Spiritlancer, Umbra Mystic will do something really awesome: make you want to play a ton more auras. While it makes Rancor even better, the cool thing is the wording on this card: on permanents you control. Suddenly, if someone Faith’s Fetters your creature and someone else Wraths, you still get your creature. Will be more powerful than you thought.

Wall of Omens is good, Blah blah blah. It’s a White Wall of Blossoms which seems play in almost any EDH deck that has Green. It’s never a dead card and if you have a way to bounce it, it will be even better. Yes, you’ll put this in almost every White deck you have and you will thank me later.

A Twincast on a stick? Sign me up. Leveling up doesn’t target, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him equipped with Lightning Greeves or something like that. Again, I would like to point out it’s any Sorcery or Instant not ones you play. Why yes, I would like to copy that Demonic Tutor, thank you very much.

Again with the token hate. Another take on Moat, this one will actually benefit you when you swing in with your fliers. Of course, it benefits all fliers, but that’s ok, you’re not worried about them because you’re playing this card. Clearly, you have your own fliers.

Unlike Transcedent Master, this is a “must kill now card.” I am so happy that Leveling up is a sorcery, otherwise I’d hate this card with a passion. Once you level him up to level 7, it’s pretty much game over. Here’s how the turn structure works with a 4 player game assuming you have the Chronologist: Player 1, You, Player 2, You, Player 3, You, You, Player 1, You… You see how that works? Please, please kill it early and often; you don’t what to know what happens if it gets cloned.

White got Wall of Blossoms, Blue got this; this is a fair trade. Before you Blue mages whine and complain “But it costs less” and “Drawing a card is good!” consider this: Crystal Shard and your favorite spell you played (like Counterspell or anything I mentioned with Cast Through Time). Seems pretty good to me.

Different than Turnabout since you can choose different types of cards, and different players. I could see this play as a combo enabler or swinging in for an alpha strike. Because it’s an instant (yeah!) you can use it to stop your opponent’s combo during their upkeep too.

Why yes, I think I’ll refill my hand after I played Wheel and Deal for you. Oh, and I can do it next turn as well? Gee, you’re so generous. The day that Blue mages stop liking to draw cards is the day I quit Magic.

Instead of like Clone, where you pick the creature when this enters the battlefield, Renegade Doppelganger becomes that creature when you play what you want it to copy. This means you get a hasted creature of the one you just played. Downside, you don’t get the “enters the battlefield” triggers, but if you do this with a Darksteel Colossus, that may not matter.

Instead of drawing two cards, it filters a card in your hand and puts it in your library. Very useful early game or if you have a Natural Order or another search target in your hand that you don’t want or need. It’s not flashy, but it’s very nice to have in your deck.

Most likely you’re gonna be playing creatures in your deck, so this will be alright (again, really good with token creatures). Sadly, it’s not an instant (too broken), but it’s still drawing 3 cards for 1 mana. If you have any creatures that do stuff if they’re tapped (such as the Lorwyn Merfolk) then there’s that bonus.

A 6/6 flier for 6 (Yes, they went there) that doesn’t have a drawback? Seriously? Not only do you get to draw a card, but you get to add a +1/+1 counter onto it? Um, wow. What’s that, Experiment Kraj? Oh, you fainted? Yeah, I can see that happening too. With Sphinx of Magosi combined with another card from this set, suddenly Blue has a new favorite kill toy.

The only problem with this card is the way you can’t guarantee that it’s going to hit another player. Unlike Cold-Eyed Selkie which has Islandwalk, you’re gonna have to equip it with Whispersilk Cloak and you’d want to save that for your General. It may be too much work for too little effort, but if it goes unchecked, it can be really good.

Ah, a new Heartstone, but much, much better. It’s harder to kill than Heartstone (since it’s an enchantment) and lowers the cost more than Heartstone meaning it’s more powerful. If you combine this with Sphinx of Magosi, you draw a card and put a +1/+1 counter for U. Sliver Overlord on crack is really good. This is a great new card that you’ll be sick of staring your opponents play.

If you have a Sensei’s Divining Top and an Eldrazi you keep putting on top of your library, then you deserve a Gold Medal. Since you never draw the card you can keep doing it over and over and, well, you get the point. Yes, people should play with enchantment hate in their EDH decks and this will teach them.

No it’s not Damnnation, but it will still be good in a Mono-Black control deck. You’ll hear me say this again, but it’s good against token decks (why do I keep saying that? Rise of Eldrazi has a ton of token generators, so naturally they produce ways to get rid of them). By keeping the bigger threats at the table while knocking off someone’s small army can totally swing tempo your way.

Again, bad against token decks, but the ability to make two different opponents sacrifice creature is a great thing. Someone has a fattie out early, well wave goodbye to it. And you gain life? The only thing that could be better is if this was an instant.

Another good reason why it’s good that Painter’s Servant is now banned. Fun and annoying in multiplayer games, people will tend to slow down play not thinking that 1 life isn’t all that much in EDH. Of course Sygg, River Cutthroat likes what he sees here. Hey baby, how you doin’?

An early drop that no one pays attention to (notice another theme with the levelers like that). It will go unnoticed until it starts picking off the smaller Generals then people want to get rid of it. Not a threat now, but grows over turns. This is the “Buy a Box” promo so I’m sure that some of those guys will trade them to you pretty easily.

Somewhere, one day, someone will get this guy to go off and flip over the nuts. I’m sure Lim-Dûl’s Vault will be part of it. Or they will phase out all of their lands and people will complain that they don’t know phasing and think that they’re cheating and a fight will ensue. Either way, it’s one of those gambles that when it works will be something you brag about to your friends. Most of the time, you’ll just /facepalm.

See the above list for the Mortician Beetle? That also applies to this guy. But the reason he’s also here on this list is because you get a second guy when the first one goes away. Sure, they’re 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn tokens, but you can sac them for mana. Or to trigger Butcher and Grave Pact all over again. Both seem like a good idea too.

HI, BILLY MAYS HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE FANTASTIC NEW CARD: REPLAY IN KIND! HAVE PEOPLE IN YOUR PLAYGROUP THAT LOVE TO PLAY MAGISTER SPHINX and SORIN MARKOV? TIRED THAT YOU’RE CONSTANTLY BEING PUT AT 10 LIFE WHILE YOUR OPPONENTS LAUGH WHEN THEY’RE IN TRIPLE DIGITS? NO MORE. ONCE YOU PLAY THIS SPELL YOU’LL BE THE ONE LAUGHING AS EVERYONE WILL HAVE THE LOWEST LIFE AT THE TABLE. ACT NOW, AND I’LL THROW IN THIS PLATINUM ANGEL SO YOU CAN BE AT NEGATIVE LIFE AND WIN THE GAME!

You don’t have to discard your hand when you play him. I was wrong, you do have to discard your hand. Makes it better for madness/dredge cards. If you have cards that are able to add +1/+1 counters on it (Fate Transfer, Forgotten Ancient), then that’s the way I would use it. Note: it doesn’t say “goes to the graveyard” just “leaves the battlefield.” Bounce and flicker away.

If you can get him to level 3 (should be easy to do in EDH), then you got yourself more than a pinger. Tossing around Lightning Bolts as if it was candy at a 4th of July parade is something you pay attention to. If you have a way to untap him (Mind Over Matter) he can become a combo piece.

Paying 6 mana for a creature-based Threaten isn’t very exciting. But if you happen to bounce or flicker the Maticore, then it becomes very exciting. Still, 5/5 flier for 6 is nothing to sneeze at in Red.

It seems like there’s a level of mana costs around 7 in this set (this being another one). Is this better than Chandra 1.0‘s ultimate? It’s different. She can hit 1 player and their creatures while this can hit all other creatures but your own. Is it good to have both in a Red deck? I wouldn’t disagree that.

A new Erratic Explosion, except it puts the revealed card in your hand. There have been suggestions to use this with Liliana Vess (Go search up this, then search up an Eldrazi) or even better: Top. Again, Top is good, Top is king. Plus it’s Red draw; which I’m sure the Blue mages will complain that it’s in the wrong color.

Why do I suggest this? 322 Generals have toughness 4 or less. While it’s not an instant and can’t hit players, it will (most of the time), hit a General and get rid of it. For 1 Red mana, I’ll take it.

Another “Sacrifice your stuff card,” Robby? Really? This is the same old stuff that Red gets. I mean, even if you have like 10 Goblins out and you have Anger in the graveyard (again), that is still 10 4/4’s. Hey, that’s 40 damage, and it works with Pandemonium again. Imagine if I had a ton of tokens like in Green or White? And if I had Doubling Season in play when I cast this, I can create so much havoc. Touche, Robby.

Efficient, sure, but he really doesn’t effect EDH until he reaches Level 8. A 8/8 flying trample firebreathing can effect games. By leveling up, it doesn’t effect his creature types, so he will never be a dragon but in name only.

Second card in this set that deals damage to all of another player’s creatures, this time it’s when it attacks. Of course, it’s another leveler that won’t do anything until it’s on its final level and you’ve got some time to act. If you have creatures whose butts are larger than 6 damage, then you shouldn’t worry too much.

Magmaw is actually one of those great “Rattlesnakes” on the battlefield that threatens people to not do anything to you. Kill my stuff? I’ll sacrifice it in response to shoot you or your creatures. A very reactive card, this is another one of those Political cards that you can look at another player and ask “Really, you want to do that?”

Great with Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, because you can force multiple creatures to attack. Also good at getting utility creatures to attack you killing them with your larger creatures. Remember that creatures like Birds of Paradise can tap for “mana” to make them not attack.

The Rebound is the best part of this card. Sure, it gets back something random (which is pretty much alright in focused decks), but it gets two instants back. It’s limited in scope, but you’re not going to cast this if you don’t have at least 2 instants in your graveyard anyway.

Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department. Conquering Manticore is already in this set and you have multiple Threaten spells already. If you just want to take more of your opponent’s creatures for a turn, then this is just fine.

I have seen this type of spell on several different cards and I have yet to see someone play this. I’m sure there’s someone out there that does, but I haven’t. If you have, please let me know. Yes, the rebound is what makes this card good, as long as you have the creatures around to swing with.

Editor’s Note: this bit was requested by several Twitterers. Blame them if you don’t like it. Hi, this is Vince who’s sold you both Shamwows and Slap Shots. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Why are you trying to peddle this one mana sorcery on us? All it does is fetch Eldrazi.” And this is where you’re wrong. There is so much you can do with this one mana spell. You short on lands? Boom, it digs deep for them. You want an artifact? Now you see what I’m getting at? Plus, it has the benefit of putting the cards on the bottom of your library instead of the graveyard, waiting for you to search up those spells again. Don’t get caught be imitators, get the real Ancient Stirrings today.

No, it’s not Bitterblossom, but it still is a pretty handy card. Pumping out free (though 0/1) creatures isn’t all that exiting most of the time. Besides the obvious chump blocking that you can do, these are Eldrazi Spawn, meaning you can sac them for mana. This won’t get out of hand until it’s too late and you’ve got a fatty on the table.

Anyone wonder why Stephen Colbert thinks Bears are America’s number 1 threat. By untapping all your lands when you attack (doesn’t have to do damage, how crazy is that?), you’re just being mean. All you lands, including non-basics, will be very very strong. Now you can untap your Gaea’s Cradle and not feel like a jerk; just point at the bear. “Number 1 threat.”

Eight mana is a l lot for a 1/1, but obviously he gets better. Suddenly your army of 1/1’s become 7/7’s all for 1 mana each. Overrun or some other trample effect is most likely advised. And this time, it is only your creatures, so no sharing the love (or making larger guys smaller).

More of a playgroup choice then something you have to have in your deck. However, if you deck has no ways to deal with flying creatures (mono-Green as the most issues), then this might not be a bad inclusion after all.

Tokens, the lifeblood of many EDH decks. This may end up going in my Verdeloth EDH deck because of Channel (causing me to lose life while this will let me gain it all back). Sure it’s got a fat butt to protect against one giant creature but if you tap your army down, you might be asking for trouble. Would Doran like this guy?

I like it for the applications of it not on the battlefield, but in your hand. Phosphorescent Feast lets you gain at least 16 life (which can swing an EDH game) while this is in your hand. But if you’re gonna play it, this hydra lets you play him cheaply and (hopefully) with some protection backup. I’m glad this has trample otherwise I don’t know if we’d be talking about this.

A one-shot Greater Good (but replace the discard with gaining life). Great if you steal a creature from an opponent (through Red or Blue), and gives Green some much needed card draw. While this is much more impressive in other formats, sacrificing your fatty when an opponent Wraths the board to refill you hand will always be a good thing.

If you could play the top card of your library, then it would be a whole lot better. Again, using Top is a great idea, but most of the time in EDH you want to tap to add mana. If it’s a 5/5, great, but adding 2 of any color mana is amazing. Keeping a Dryad Arbor on top with a Top is the best of both worlds.

Not a flashy creature, but a real efficient one. Yes, trample makes its way here again (which is excellent), but with both an enter the battlefield and enters the graveyard triggered ability, it’s a creature that might make its way into your decks. Gaining 7 life is always good; as well as drawing a card which will cause newer players not to kill it because you’ll get a card. Smash for 7 my friends.

This card should be banned. Alright, the “should” in that statement is a prediction more than how I feel. Just like its muse Gifts Ungiven, this is complete card advantage to an unfair degree. It’s a 3 casting cost instant (really, really insane) that even has the same pose (but this time with a come-hither look), it will act just like it’s predecessor. Yes, some people will play nice and only get “fair” cards, but that’s not why a card gets banned. Imagine a pile of Strip Mine, Wasteland, Petrified Field, and Ghost Quarter? You’re already playing Green so you’ve got Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds in your deck (which will allow you to go get a cycling land as well). If you’re playing something other than Green, go get Tolarian Academy or Academy Ruins or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Riftstone Portal. I could go on but I think you know how I feel. Green EDH decks will be known as P.R.U. and A.R.U. (Pre-Realms Uncharted and After-Realms Uncharted).

A one of it’s kind card that takes cards of the All is Dust/Grave Pact/Savra EDH type and gives them the finger. Will it be worth throwing in your EDH decks just in case? I would almost say yes, but this is still mostly a playgroup choice. Bonus: it’s an Elf and a Shaman, so have fun with those two tribes.

A 4/3 haste creature isn’t all that impressive in EDH, but that’s not the part everyone’s so interested with in the first place. The recursion ability can help you win attrition wars. The only drawback: you have to hold back creatures that may help your immediate board position. When not in a combo, this could be a real skill tester as players can’t get rid of it unless they exile or shuffle it into your library.

Obviously a great fit in Dragon decks (“Finish Him” ultimate), I think that people may overlook the second ability. It kills indestructible creatures by making them sacrifice it. It’s a 5/5 flyer, surely you can deal with that.

Another one of those attrition cards that will help out in the long game. If you want to really abuse it, cheat charge counters on it (Coretapper, etc). Not an auto include in every deck, but it all depends on your play style.

If you’ve got that EDH milling deck, this has to go in it. Other then that, I don’t see why you’d play it. Traumatize + this does equal a quick kill, but the Eldrazi (which everyone will most like be playing), will shuffle them back in.

For 7 mana, you kinda want your artifact to do something when it hits the table. Unless you’ve got a storm combo enabler that lets you keep playing sorceries and instants, this is just going to sit at the table while everyone is playing game changing spells at the moment. Play 1st: deal 1 damage. Play 2nd: deal 2 damage. Play 3rd: 3 damage. I guess if you need some more damage in your mono-Blue deck, I understand, but most of the time this won’t be as effective as you think.

A functional repeat of Terramorphic Expanse, which is what they wanted. Mono-colored EDHers will love that there’s another card they can go fetch with. Expanse sees play and so will this.

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Whew, the end. As you can see, there’s plenty of good EDH cards in Rise of the Eldrazi. Almost every kind of EDH deck can benefit from these cards. Once you open a few packs, start putting them in your decks (remember: the cards are legal in EDH as soon as the Pre-release, so they’re legal now).

You may see some of these cards on other people’s top 10, and it won’t surprise me. What did surprise me what the fact that Blue had the best EDH creature this set, but if you don’t stop it, it’s easy to see why it’s the best.

15 responses to “The Really Big Rise of the Eldrazi EDH Review”

Hi Robby! Fun set review. I had similar thoughts about Painter’s Servant with All Is Dust, particularly in combination with It That Betrays. Of course, then your opponents all become It That Enters Its Scoop Phase and Calls You a Jerk, so it’s definitely for the best that the Servant was banned (because it, not Grindstone, was the problem all along).

Just want to point out one rules thing: You actually do have to discard your whole hand to Thought Gorger. There’s no “you may” in “discard your hand”; rather, the “if you do” clause is there to make sure that you only actually discard your hand if you did in fact put +1/+1 counters on Thought Gorger. This protects you from instant-speed removal with the ETB trigger on the stack taking all your cards away forever, because that would be Not Fun.

All is Dust – Another cool thing is that it gives Red and Black decks another way to get rid of enchantments.

Eldrazi Conscription – Academy Rector can fetch it also. And Rector’s ability doesn’t target, so you can drop it on a shrouded creature a la Zur. Wait, Zur can do this, too…

Prophetic Prism – It’s not the same as EDH, but this little guy has been a boss in Limited. It’s not accel, but it’s half-decent mana fixing for 5-colour decks. Drawing a card is always good, especially for 2 colourless.

I don’t understand your love for Realms Uncharted; I’d rate the card as “Acceptable” and would only play it in a land-themed deck.
Gifts was awesome because you could assemble a package of:
Redundant cards that do the same thing. (Wrath, Day of Judgment, Austere, Vengeance)
Self-recursive crazyness (Loam, Stronghold, Witness, Genesis)
Spells! Actual threats, removal, or combo pieces.

Because there are far fewer interesting lands to choose from, Realms will only be really excellent when you need something that lands do offer redudancy in, such as mana fixing or wastelanding. (Or when Loam or Crucible is already involved.)

The rest of the time, you’d do better to get precisely the land you want via Sylvan Scrying or Reap and Sow, rather than let your opponent put the ones you wanted most in your graveyard.

So while Realms Uncharted clearly tutors you some powerful lands, it can’t produce threats or answers consistently without outside help. Solid, but nowhere close to Ban-Worthy.

Hi from South Africa! The hartebeest is an antelope we know very well down here. Afrikaans uses ‘bees’ rather than ‘beest’, so I’d guess the name comes from Dutch. It’s very cool to see a local animal as a good EDH card.

Just for curiousity, is there any reason why the progenitor Eldrazis are excluded from the set review? I know that there is already another article on this blog somewhere but excluding at least a mention of these Eldrazis is just strange. The expansion is called “Rise of the Eldrazi” for a reason =)

Besides, it is not as if the Eldrazis have minimal impact on the format at this point. Jhoira obviously loves these humongous titans but even decks like Mayael are getting a really nice toy to toss around (annihilator is relevant).

I love this article series. You have some great insights. My wife and I play in Tampa and all across the southeast when time and travel permits. We have played EDH for a couple of years and have an EDH dedicated channel on YouTube.

We made this Eldrazi themed deck with a ton of the new cards including Baneful Omen, Awakening Zone, and the Eldrazi tribe. There are some interesting rules debates to be had about Channel and Spawnsire… check out our channel and some of the newest videos…

oh and on the note of spawnsire of ulamog, I believe its 20 ability has to do with playing creatures that have been removed from the game from a journey to nowhere or path of exile. this would make alot more sense then just putting as many eldrazi from in your binder on to the battlefield. lol otherwise it would be an unhinged card.

seems like a good idea for making the eldrazi deck. Maybe lower colors to two instead of three would make it easier to play. I’ve made an eldrazi deck out of forest and mountain. very fast and effective able to get powerhouses out on fifth turn. cards you should include in your deck should be summoning trap, neurok stealthsuit, and dramatic entrance. disaster radius is another good card to throw in there if you are using any big creatures.

While summoning trap is a good suggestion Neurok Stealthsuit is kinda… not allowed (unless you pick a blue general, but that’s really not a concession you want to make here) and Dramatic Entrance has some nice anti-synergy going on with the Eldrazi (if something’s colorless that means it’s not green, y’know).

As for your other comment, about the Spawnsire, that’s what really made me laugh. Had the card been printed a year back, then it would actually have been able to get back cards removed from the game (swords to plowshares and anything else) IN ADDITION TO cards from sideboards/binders (sideboards in tournaments, that is). However, at this very moment no such thing as “removed from the game” exists – there’s only “exile” which is in the game. This means that wishes are no longer able to get them once exiled, and that the Spawnsire has never been able to get anything “removed” by another card – it can merely get those ulamog.

Oh, and on a last note, Channel getting banned and Wish-rules getting clarified not too work too well in EDH, the Spawnsire is as good as unplayable in EDH.

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